The Holy Spirit's Responsibilities

Jesus told us that it was better for us if He went away. He said this because if He left, the Holy Spirit would come. So it is better for us to have the Holy Spirit in us,  then to have Jesus here in the flesh with us and these are some of the reasons why. 

He Pray's For Us: So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groaning’s too deep for utterance. Romans 8:26

He Teaches Us Everything: But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26

He Gives Us Gift’s: To another [wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit; To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues. 1 Corinthians 12:9-10

He Guides Us: But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God). Galatians 5:16

He Control Us: Then Peter, [because he was] filled with [and controlled by] the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and members of the council (the Sanhedrin), Acts 4:8

He Cause Us To Live Right: And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall heed My ordinances and do them. Ezekiel 36:27

He Gives Us Courage: And when they had prayed, the place in which they were assembled was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they continued to speak the Word of God with freedom and boldness and courage. Acts 4:31

He Protects Us: And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God [do not offend or vex or sadden Him], by Whom you were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for the day of redemption (of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of sin). Ephesians 4:30

Most of us tend to believe that we have to do all of these things on our own. But our Freedom through Christ is that He has given us our Father’s Holy Spirit and He does all of these things for us. Jesus has given us the very power that insures that we will never fail. Through the power of our Father we are always victorious and none of us will be lost or fall short of our calling. If we could, then that would mean that Holy Spirit had fallen short, and He just doesn’t fall short! We now have what Jesus said was so important to have and He is responsible to carry out all of these things in our lives. 

Perfect Strength For The End Times Part II

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

The Word teaches us that the world will be saying peace, peace and then sudden destruction will come upon them, 1 Thessalonians 5:3. They will be saying this because they will be living in an era when our Father is using His children as never before. They will be living in a time when we have been removed from all of the cares of this world. They will be living in a time right before the Great Tribulation. Jesus teaches us that the blessed servant will be the one who is giving food and provision to those in need when He returns, Matthew 24:45-46. The Church will be at its most powerful right before the Great Tribulation. This is when our Fathers strength will have been perfected within us. The world will be enjoying the fruit and power of it, and they will also be taking credit for it, and as they are, our Father will release His wrath on the them. He won’t stop using us during this time, our Father will still use us to produce much fruit during His 3 ½ years of wrath. So even though we are unable to buy or sell, we will still be used by Him to give abundantly, and the world will hate us for it!

So think of what must happen before hand. Our Father must remove us from trusting in anything the world has to offer: money, insurance, employment, government programs, police, fire departments, any worldly thing. Our Father is going to bring us to a place where none of these things have any bearing on us and His strength will be perfected within us. Then our Father will use us to produce abundant fruit: love, joy, peace, faith, patience, kindness, and self-control.

Just think of not needing money and yet we are abundantly giving or not having health insurance and yet we are healthy! Think of taking no thought for what the politicians are saying or what the judges are ruling. Think of never running out of toilet paper and yet we are never buying it, the roles just never end. Think of our cars never needing gas or oil changes and yet perfectly running. Think of having refrigerators that are never humanly stocked and clothes that never wear out. Think of being perfectly removed from every care of this life through the perfect strength of our Father! Just as Jesus was and is, so will we be in this world. This is our destiny, so rejoice when you hear of the world having no answers, oil prices skyrocketing, inflation, and politicians telling us that only government can help. Because the Truth is our Father is going to remove us from all of it, to use us as He never has before, and the world, politicians, businessmen, and fake religious leaders, will be patting themselves on the back and taking credit for it, right before their world of Babylon is destroyed!

Happy Thanksgiving

I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. John 15:5

What I am thankful for is this Truth: that we are incapable of doing anything without Jesus and Jesus isn't a follower He is the Leader. So the Truth is that we can't help but be all that our Father has designed us to be. Because of Jesus we have faith, just as He has faith, Hebrews 12:2. We have love, just as He has love, John 17:26. We forgive just as Jesus forgives, Luke 23:34. We have the same knowledge that Jesus has, 1 Corinthians 2:16. Everything that Jesus has and is we are now one with, Ephesians 5:30-32. 

All of the burdens of life have been removed from us. It is now Jesus being greater in us then anything that is in this world, 1 John 4:4. He is now being more then a conqueror through us, Romans 8:37. Jesus is now ever living to make sure that we are saved to the uttermost, Hebrews 7:25. And the thing that I am truly thankful for is it doesn't matter for one second if we understand all of this or not, Jesus is still doing it. He does not need us to first allow Him or empower Him to be Who He is within us. He first empowers us and we follow Him.

No one is able to come to Me unless the Father Who sent Me attracts and draws him and gives him the desire to come to Me, and [then] I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day. John 6:44

Thank You Jesus for causing us to be thankful and full of joy now, John 15:11. 

Jesus' Responsibilities For Us

So many times people want to talk about what we have to do for Jesus, but today let’s talk about what Jesus has to do for us.

He Has To Cause Us to Be Totally Saved: Therefore He is able also to save to the uttermost (completely, perfectly, finally, and for all time and eternity) those who come to God through Him, since He is always living to make petition to God and intercede with Him and intervene for them. Hebrews 7:25

He Must Make Us Completely Free From Sin: Well then, as one man’s trespass [one man’s false step and falling away led] to condemnation for all men, so one Man’s act of righteousness [leads] to acquittal and right standing with God and life for all men. Romans 5:18

He Must Cause Us To Have Abundance: The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10

He Must Make Us Healthy: He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree [as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24

He Must Sanctify Us: For both He Who sanctifies [making men holy] and those who are sanctified all have one [Father]. For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren; Hebrews 2:11

He Must Cause Us To Have Faith: Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

He Must Make Us Produce Fruit: I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing. John 15:5

He Has To Cause Us To Love:  I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them. John 17:26

He Must Make Us Have Peace: Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] John 14:27

He Must Cause Us To Have Joy: And now I am coming to You; I say these things while I am still in the world, so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them [that they may experience My delight fulfilled in them, that My enjoyment may be perfected in their own souls, that they may have My gladness within them, filling their hearts]. John 17:13

Jesus plainly tells us that He is responsible for these things in our lives. We should absolutely expect that all of these Truth's are accomplished daily for us by Him. Because the Truth is that Jesus never leaves us and He never forsakes us and today is the day of our salvation and now is our accepted time, 2 Corinthians 6:2. Jesus tells us that He will never turn away anyone that comes to Him, John 6:37. So don’t hesitate, not for one second, to go to Him daily, if not multiple times a day, and remind Him of what He should be doing in our lives, just as He taught us to do in Luke 11:6-8 and Luke 18:1-5.

Perfect Strength For The End Times

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Now I want you to take the scriptural Truths that we talked about yesterday, Post Perfect Strength, and think about the end times for a minute? When we are presented to our Lord and Savior, Jesus, we will be without spot, wrinkle, or blemish, Ephesians 5:27. And during the Great Tribulation we will be unable to buy or sell unless we have taken the mark of the beast, Revelation 13:17, yet if we take the mark of the beast, we are damned, Revelation 14:9-10.

The Truth for us is that the cares of this world hinder us from being used by our Father to produce fruit. The Truth is also that our Fathers strength is perfected in our human weakness. Our peace with all of this is that our Father removes anything from us that hinders us from being used by Him. This allows Him to present us to Jesus without spot, wrinkle, or blemish. Now right before Jesus returns we will be unable to buy or sell anything without having the mark of the beast that will damn us! Where am I going here, to perfect strength! Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God! For our Father to be perfectly strong within us, we have to be perfectly removed from all of the cares of this world. The end times do this for us!

Most people think this will only happen in Heaven, but Jesus tells us plainly in John 14:12 that our Father will use us to do even greater works than He used Him for, and Jesus was perfectly removed from the cares of this world. Jesus tells us that the end times can only come after the Gospel is preached to every nation, Mark 13:10. And in John 17 Jesus repeatedly prays that we will be one with our Father, even as He is One with our Father, so that the world will believe. The Holy Spirit had John write in 1 John 4:17, that as Jesus is, so are we in this world. The Holy Spirit had Paul write that he was dead and that it was actually the Anointing of Jesus that was alive within him, Galatians 2:20. So our Fathers ability to perfect us is not in Heaven, it is on this earth!

Perfect Strength

But He said to me, My grace (My favor and loving-kindness and mercy) is enough for you [sufficient against any danger and enables you to bear the trouble manfully]; for My strength and power are made perfect (fulfilled and completed) and show themselves most effective in [your] weakness. Therefore, I will all the more gladly glory in my weaknesses and infirmities, that the strength and power of Christ (the Messiah) may rest (yes, may pitch a tent over and dwell) upon me! So for the sake of Christ, I am well pleased and take pleasure in infirmities, insults, hardships, persecutions, perplexities and distresses; for when I am weak in human strength], then am I [truly] strong (able, powerful in divine strength).2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Then the cares and anxieties of the world and distractions of the age, and the pleasure and delight and false glamour and deceitfulness of riches, and the craving and passionate desire for other things creep in and choke and suffocate the Word, and it becomes fruitless. Mark 4:19

The cares of this world: how much money do we have, our jobs, gas prices, inflation, global warming, who wins an election, and the false glamour of envying those who are richer than us all choke out the ability of Jesus to produce fruit through us. The cares of the world make the Word of our Father fruitless. The cares of this world stop love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faith, humility, and self-restraint, all of the things that Jesus uses to make us blameless, Galatians 5:22-23.

Our Father is well aware of this Truth, so what has He done about it? He has made Himself our Gardener and He has made Jesus our Vine, John 15. So anything that will hinder His ability to produce much love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faith, humility and self-restraint through us, will be pruned out by Him.

Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit. John 15:2

Paul had a thorn in His flesh and He asked our Father three times to remove it and God told Him absolutely not. Our Father told Paul no, the answer to Paul’s prayer was no, for in Paul’s weakness, our Fathers strength was perfected. 

In Christ We Can't Help But Love

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Galatians 5:22

And to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19

I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them. John 17:26

Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit of our Father to dwell within us, and because He does, we now have God’s love. We are now one with our Father’s perfect and complete love. We actually have living within us the very love of God, the love that came to die on the Cross, the love that lives for the very purpose of interceding for all believers, Hebrews 7:25. This is the love that has been born into us.

We are commanded to love our brothers in the Lord, that requirement is an easy yoke to be born, it’s pleasant, and we can’t help but accomplish it, because we are now one with Love! If we don’t love our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we are in darkness, and we don’t have salvation, that is what 1 John 2:9 has to say about it. But through Christ we do have the Holy Spirit and the fruit of that relationship is love, and since we know that love, we are filled with the fullness of our Father, and through Christ we have uttermost salvation! For those of us who are saved we can’t help but love, we are born of it and it now abides within us, we are one with the fullness of our Father’s love!

But concerning brotherly love [for all other Christians], you have no need to have anyone write you, for you yourselves have been [personally] taught by God to love one another. 1 Thessalonians 4:9

Our Father Will Use Us To Do All Things

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. Philippians 4:13

Is there anything that Jesus cannot do? Absolutely not, He can do anything and His is the force that is now strengthening us. Jesus has unlimited access to the full power of God our Father, because the Two of Them are One! This is our strength! Jesus spoke to situations, He told them what to do and they obeyed Him! Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, He never changes! He will speak through us as He spoke. No, it’s even more powerful than that, He will speak through us as He now speaks, in the full power of the New Covenant! As we speak people should hear God, they should see His righteousness through us. We should tell storms to stop, the sick to be whole, and the dead to be raised. We should tell the demons to flee, because it is our Father within us speaking! We should speak with the full power of the resurrection and of the love of our Father! The Truth is this: our Father now has the full freedom to speak through us just as He speaks through Jesus, because the separation of sin has been removed from us!

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, if anyone steadfastly believes in Me, he will himself be able to do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these, because I go to the Father. John 14:12

Our Father has not given us a spirit of fear; we can have all joy in accepting and believing this. We have been given a sound mind, a mind of God's very Anointing; so that we can understand this, and He has given us His love and it now dwells within us, John 17:26. To speak as Jesus speaks shows the love of God to be fully active within our lives! Jesus came and He healed the sick. He spoke of the love of God and now our Father has millions of bodies to speak through! Jesus came as one man united with God and He spoke of salvation, and millions throughout the ages have believed and been saved. And now our Father has millions of us who are one with Him through Christ to speak the same message! Jesus has given us all of Himself and through His strength we are now able to allow Him to be all that He is within us! There are now no limitations for the power of God to be revealed within us on the earth! Our Father can now do all things through us, because His Anointing has strengthened us so that He can! And the miracles that our Father does through us helps people to understand the Truth that sets them free.

Now when John in prison heard about the activities of Christ, he sent a message by his disciples And asked Him, Are You the One Who was to come, or should we keep on expecting a different one? And Jesus replied to them, Go and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed (by healing) and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have good news (the Gospel) preached to them. Matthew 11:2-5

The Power Of The Sign Of Healing

They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Mark 16:18

The Word of God says that we shall be used by our Father to lay hands on the sick and they will recover. The sick will recover, the sign of our Father within us goes beyond just praying for the sick, the proof of God actually being within us is that the sick recover!

And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both men and women. Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one. Acts 5:14-16

We are shown that all who were sick were healed, they weren’t just prayed for, they were healed, and because of the power of God working through the believers, multitudes were saved! The ministry of miraculous healing grew the Church like nothing else! Without television, without radio, without telephones, without mailers, and without the Internet, people, even from far away cities, came and were added to God because of the ministry of healing! The power of the sign of healing is unmatched! Jesus healed everywhere He went and so did the Apostles and Paul.

Man has no ability to miraculously heal apart from God! We have to create a medicine with side effects, or cut a person open and remove something, or shoot poison into the sick and hope that it kills the sickness before it kills the person; this is man’s healing process! And we charge enormous amounts of money for it, but our Father just heals, no pain, no charge, and when He does, people get saved, even those who just watch it! Jesus taught us that all who believe would have this sign follow them and as our Father had Paul write, we all should eagerly desire it.

We Are A Chosen Generation

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light: 1 Peter 2:9

This is a fundamental Truth that the Church needs to grow up in the knowledge of: the Truth that through Christ we are now in and one with the Light of God.

This then is the message we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

At that day ye shall know that I am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you. John 14:20

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 1 Peter 3:18

According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and promises: that by these ye may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in this world through lust, 2 Peter 1:3-4

The Truth for us is that we are now in our Father's Light. At the very moment that our Father empowered us to say yes to Jesus as our Lord, His glorious Light drove out our darkness. Our darkness never stood a chance against God’s Light! Christ suffered once to bring us to God. The Blood that was shed by Jesus at the Cross has allowed our Father to perfect us in every good work. The Blood of Jesus has allowed our Father to give us all things that pertain unto life and unto godliness. Because of the Blood we now have the knowledge of God and we know that He has called us unto glory and virtue, whereby we are given exceeding great promises. Through the Holy Spirit we now know that we are partakers of His Divine Nature. Through Christ we have escaped corruption and we are now in the Light! The Just was given for the unjust; the price of sin has been paid in full for us who have been chosen to serve the world!

We Are God's Light, So Enjoy It

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of Him Who hath called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light: 1 Peter 2:9

We have been chosen by God Himself! 

All whom My Father gives (entrusts) to Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, no never, reject one of them who comes to Me]. For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will and purpose but to do the will and purpose of Him Who sent Me. And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day. John 6:39

Our Father has empowered us with His very Spirit to be a royal priesthood, to be holy, and because He has done these things for us, we are peculiar! Don’t you just love that; God says that we are peculiar! And we are! Think about it? In the world there is tribulation, but through the power of Christ we are of good cheer. If we get slapped on the left cheek, we are strong in the power of our Fathers might to offer up our right one. We now have peace that passes all understanding. We live to serve and with all of the power and victory and glory of God within us. We esteem others higher than we esteem ourselves. We believe that to be great, we have to be the biggest servants. We actually look forward to death, death where is thy victory, grave where is thy sting? The world looks at history to try and figure God out, we simply see Him by faith and even our faith is not our own, it’s Jesus’. We speak of a Savior that we have never seen with our physical eyes, yet we are intimately acquainted with Him through the very Spirit of God. We are all of these things so that we can be used to show forth the praises of God, Whom has called us out of darkness and into His glorious Light! Through Christ we are peculiar, and that is such a great thing!

We Are Just Like Jesus While In This Wolrd

Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the Day of Judgment: because as He is, so are we in this world. 1 John 4:17

As Jesus is, so are we in this world; so as Jesus speaks, so do we speak in this world! Jesus spoke that there is none good, none but God, and it is now God doing His works through us. We now stand in perfection and glory because the only Good One has used the perfect Blood of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to make us that way! We are saved because of Jesus. We are glorified because of Jesus. We are perfect and sanctified because of Jesus, and through Jesus’ Blood, our Father has done it all for us. The Blood of Jesus was the tool our Father needed that allowed us all to be as our Lord is. Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. Our Father is not a man that He should lie, and if our Father said the Blood has done all of this for us, then the Blood of Jesus has done all of this for us!

Jesus Who thought that it wasn’t robbery to be called equal with God; took on the form of a servant for a little while and then went up and took His rightful place with God. Let this mind that was in Jesus be in you. Jesus knew Who He was, He knew Who God was, He knew He was born of God, and He served by the power of God that was within Him. 

So ask yourself, where are we different? Jesus did it all by the power of our Father. He did nothing on His own, so where are we different? Were we born of a different Spirit? Did God send a different Holy Spirit to us then He sent Jesus? Do we do any works on our own? There is only one difference, and it is a huge difference, Jesus is our Lord, but we have our Lord’s Spirit, we have our Lord’s Father, and we are one with our Lord! It is our Lord working within us to carry out every perfect work that is fully pleasing unto our Father! Jesus is our Head, He is the Vine, and the same life force that runs through the Vine runs through the branches!

Be blessed and Jesus is Lord!

The Blood Of Jesus Continually Cleanses Us

Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5:9

Do you see why our Father had Paul write that there is now no condemnation for us in Romans 8:1? How could there be condemnation when the Blood of Jesus has justified us, cleansed us, allowed us to be in God’s holiest? Jesus' Blood has perfected us, liberated us, glorified us, purified us internally and externally, and it has redeemed us completely. This is the Stumbling Stone that is Jesus, it takes being truly humble to accept these Truth’s, and it takes the Holy Ghost dwelling within us to even begin to think about having them. But if you are saved, you have them!

Why is it so important that these Truths that we have been studying together be true? I mean Jesus could have just saved us, but never really empowered us. They are important so that we can serve and so that our Father can fulfill through us the very purpose of our creation! Our Father said let us make man in Our image and Jesus said the world would believe because we are now one with Him, John 17:18-22! Our Father made us in His very image so that we could have true fellowship with Him.

Think about fellowship, you can have a companion, yet if the companion is so far above you or beneath you in abilities and understanding, there really isn’t perfected fellowship. To have true fellowship you have to be equal. A man can’t have true fellowship with a dog, even though there is companionship, there isn’t equality and there is no perfect fellowship. To have fellowship and to truly serve the needs of the world, it has to be that what Jesus is, so are we. It that means Who He is, so are we, even while we are in this world. The two of us have become one flesh. As Jesus is so are we in this world,1 John 4:17! Jesus said it, and He said it over and over again, and then He had the Apostles and others write it! We are now members of His Body, of His Flesh, and His Bones! That is how great our salvation is, Jesus freely shed His Blood so that we could be one with Him!

Does Our Father Get His Way?

For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior, Who wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth. 1 Timothy 2:3-4

Let me ask you a simple question, does our Father get His way? The Holy Spirit tells us plainly here that our Father wishes all men to be saved. We pray all of the time, Father your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus prayed, Father, not My will, but Your will be done. The Bible teaches us in, Colossians 1:16, that all things exist by our Father and through our Father. So once again, ask yourself, does our Father get what He wishes for?

We are told plainly that our Father wishes for all men to be saved and when you understand the parable of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb in Matthew 22, you can see how this wish of our Father is going to be fulfilled. Some of us are going to be the Bride of Christ. Some of us are going to be the guests of the Bride and Groom. So all will be saved from the Lake of Fire. All will believe and confess that Jesus is Lord. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess this Truth and our Father’s will, will be done!

But if any person's work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:15

The guests of the Bride and Groom will not be the Bride. They will lose their reward of being the Bride, but they will not be thrown into the Lake of Fire to be destroyed. They will be saved, but only as ones who have passed through Hades, the realm of the dead. They will pass through a place that the Bride never will, because through Christ, we have passed from death to life already!

Now does our Father get His way? Of course He does. Look at Jonah, look at Pharaoh, and look at Jesus. Nothing can be that our Father doesn’t cause to be, so how would He not get His way? If our Father didn’t get His way then that would mean that He wasn’t in control of all things and all things don’t exist through Him. Our Father wishes to spend eternity with all of us and because of Jesus' success, He will, John 17:2.

Can We Lose Our Reward And Still Be Saved?

The work of each [one] will become [plainly, openly] known (shown for what it is); for the day [of Christ] will disclose and declare it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test and critically appraise the character and worth of the work each person has done. If the work which any person has built on this Foundation [any product of his efforts whatever] survives [this test], he will get his reward. But if any person's work is burned up [under the test], he will suffer the loss [of it all, losing his reward], though he himself will be saved, but only as [one who has passed] through fire. 1 Corinthians 3:13-15

Jesus is the foundation that created everything. Jesus created it all, whether we can see it or we can’t. Jesus is the foundation of everything that is!

For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). Colossians 1:16-17

We are told that peoples sinful works will be burned up. Thank God that they will. Thank God that murder, envy, strife, lying, rape, adultery, stealing, and every other crap thing will be burned up. But the Truth for the Bride of Christ is that this cleansing has already happened to us.

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the person whose ears are open to My words [who listens to My message] and believes and trusts in and clings to and relies on Him Who sent Me has (possesses now) eternal life. And he does not come into judgment [does not incur sentence of judgment, will not come under condemnation], but he has already passed over out of death into life. John 5:24

Only the guests of the Bride are judged on the Day of Christ, Revelation 20:11-14 and Matthew 22:11-13. But notice the glorious Truth that we are shown in 1 Corinthians 3: sure these guests will lose rewards, but they will still be saved from being thrown into Hell. Read in Revelation 20 how only the dead are judged on the Day of Christ. Revelation 20 never says that the living are judged on this day, but only that the dead are judged. Then notice how we are told that the dead came up out of Hades, a place of torment. These people lost everything that they thought was good, their sinful works were burned up, they passed through the fire. But amen they are allowed to stay as guests of the Bride and Groom. They will bow their knees and they will confess that Jesus is Lord and they will not be thrown into the Lake of Fire, Romans 14:11.

What Is Hades Really For?

And [the man] said, Then, father, I beseech you to send him to my father's house--For I have five brothers--so that he may give [solemn] testimony and warn them, lest they too come into this place of torment. Luke 16:27-28

This rich ruler in this Parable was sent to Hades, the place where lost souls wait for judgment, for what seems to be ignoring the needs of Lazarus who was in great need. This parable implies that this rich man was stingy and only cared for himself. Preaching here normally goes along the lines of: don’t be as the rich ruler was or you’re going to pay a heavy price, by being thrown into Hades and you will suffer for your sins. But, let’s look at what Jesus shows us with this parable: the rich man actually begins to show concern for other people while he is in Hades. This selfish, stingy, and over indulgent guy is thrown into Hades and begins to suffer and when he does, we can see a change in him. As he realizes that he can’t be let loosed from his disciplining, he begins to show love and concern for others.

Hades begins to soften this guy and it begins to drive him in the right direction of mercy towards others. Ask yourself this, why does our Father have Hades to throw sinners souls into, before they are thrown into Hell? Why would our Father, who shows us so much grace and mercy, have a place to torment peoples souls while they wait to be reunited with their bodies to face judgment? So when they are found guilty on that day they can then be tormented eternally in Hell, with both their body and soul?

Is our Father really that sadistic? Many preach that He does because He loves us so much. I have actually heard it preached that this is not just love, it is “agape love.” I have always been told that it is love so deep that we cannot understand it. That’s plain and outright Bull! I easily get that kind of love. I fully understand love that says: do what I say, or I will get even with you. Thank God I have seen our Father’s love and how forgiving that it really is. Believe me, I live in it each and every day. Thank you Father for Your mercy and Grace! I know that our Father would that all me be saved, 1 Timothy 2:4. I know that our Father teaches us that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb will be filled with both good and bad guests, Matthew 22:10. I know that every dead person will be raised to be eternally at the Marriage Supper, Revelation 20:12-14.

The Holy Spirit has really shown me that Hades isn’t a place of our Father’s revenge, but a place of His correction. It is a place that our Father uses to show people that they should care for others and a place that changes people. This falls into line with our Father corrects and disciplines all that He loves, Hebrews 12:6. Our Father loves the rich ruler every bit as much as He loves His children. Our Father disciplines us and He disciplines the guests as well, because He loves us all and is unwilling to be without any of us. Our Father wants to spend eternity with all of us, and the Truth is Hades is a tool that allows His will to be fulfilled.

How Can The Head Be Predestined And Not The Body?

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must of necessity suffer many things and be tested and disapproved and rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be put to death, and after three days rise again [from death]. Mark 8:31

Then taking the Twelve [apostles] aside, He said to them, Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written about the Son of Man through and by the prophets will be fulfilled. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be made sport of and scoffed and jeered at and insulted and spit upon. They will flog Him and kill Him; and on the third day He will rise again. Luke 18:31-33

For the Son of Man is going as it has been determined and appointed, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed and delivered up! Luke 22:22

For I tell you that this Scripture must yet be fulfilled in Me: And He was counted and classed among the wicked (the outlaws, the criminals); for what is written about Me has its fulfillment [has reached its end and is finally settled]. Luke 22:37

He is not here, but has risen! Remember how He told you while He was still in Galilee That the Son of Man must be given over into the hands of sinful men (men whose way or nature is to act in opposition to God) and be crucified and on the third day rise [from death]. Luke 24:6-7

Our Father determined when our Head, Jesus, was going to be born. Where He was going to be born. How He was going to be treated. Who was going to kill Him and How He was going to die. I have never met a brother in the Lord who has any problem whatsoever with these Truths. Yet, when the scriptures bring up the Truth that our Father predestined us as well, so many freak out. Why?

We are one with Jesus, we are His body, flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, Ephesians 5:30-32. We are now dead and yet we live, yet it is not us who live, it is our Christ within us Who lives, Galatians 2:20. If predestination was the reality for Jesus, why not for those of us who are now one with Him? I believe the reason that so many have a problem with predestination is because of their ego’s and pride and pride comes before a fall. Our Father had a plan and we are His glorious instruments of carrying it out. He knew us before we ever were and He chose to use us in serving the Kingdom and everything that is in it. That is what makes us great, because to be great you have to be a servant, and our Father has a predetermined plan of use for us.

Even Our Hair Is Predestined

Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father's leave (consent) and notice. But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

Now before you write me off as being foolish in asking the question, is our hair predestined, look at what Jesus actually tells us here in Matthew. We are shown the glorious Truth that our Father won’t even let something as insignificant as a bird die without His first consent. Jesus goes on to tell us that our Father has even numbered the hairs on our head. This means that our Father has destined everything that is, from us, who are His beloved, to the small and seminally meaningless things, such as hair.

For it was in Him that all things were created, in heaven and on earth, things seen and things unseen, whether thrones, dominions, rulers, or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [by His service, intervention] and in and for Him. He Himself existed before all things, and in Him all things consist (cohere, are held together). Colossians 1:16-17

Our Father controls everything. Our Father knows all things and has predestined all things to fulfill His will and purposes. Everything has been planned out and nothing can be, that He hasn’t first destined to be.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your book all the days [of my life] were written before ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:16

I keep these devotionals short now. But if you take all of the scriptures of the devotionals on predestination, you will see that the Bible really clearly tells us that our Father has predestined everything. Just a quick note, if you have seen my hair, you will also see that our Father has a sense of humor.

We Are To Shamelessly Bug Our Father

And He said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and will say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread], For a friend of mine who is on a journey has just come, and I have nothing to put before him; And he from within will answer, Do not disturb me; the door is now closed, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and supply you [with anything]? I tell you, although he will not get up and supply him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his shameless persistence and insistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. Luke 11:5-8

Jesus tells us in this parable to be shameless in our pursuit of asking our Father for what we need to serve the Kingdom. So basically Jesus is telling us to bug the daylights out of our Father until we receive what we need to help others. Notice that the man in this illustration did not just have a need for himself, but for those who came to him.

Jesus told this parable right after He taught the Disciples how to pray. In the Lord’s Prayer we are told to pray for things like: give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation. We were not shown to pray for our own needs, but to pray for the needs of the body as a whole. Then after Jesus teaches us to pray for everyone, He tells us to shamelessly ask our Father to give us the things that we do not have to help others.

The Truth is that we are to continuously bug our Father to empower us to serve others. We should shamelessly ask our Father to use us to prophesy, 1 Corinthians 14:5. We should ask repeatedly and vigorously to be used to do the works that Jesus did and even greater ones, John 14:12. We should hound our Father repeatedly to send us into all of the world to preach the Truth that will set the captives free. We should bug Him to empower us to lay hands on the sick and they recover. We should repeatedly ask to be empowered to cast out demons, to freely receive and freely give. 1 John 4:17 tells us that as Jesus is, so are we in this world. We should seek, knock, and repeatedly ask our Father to make it so. The laborers are few and the need is great. It is time that we as a body expect and demand that our Father begin to work through us, as He works through Jesus. Even if it looks like our Father first says no, as the man in the parable first said no, keep on shamelessly demanding of our Father that He do it!

It Is Impossible For Us To Be Understood

But the natural, nonspiritual man does not accept or welcome or admit into his heart the gifts and teachings and revelations of the Spirit of God, for they are folly (meaningless nonsense) to him; and he is incapable of knowing them [of progressively recognizing, understanding, and becoming better acquainted with them] because they are spiritually discerned and estimated and appreciated. But the spiritual man tries all things [he examines, investigates, inquires into, questions, and discerns all things], yet is himself to be put on trial and judged by no one [he can read the meaning of everything, but no one can properly discern or appraise or get an insight into him]. 1 Corinthians 2:14-15

We all try so desperately to be understood by the world. We share scriptures that seem so plain and simple to us. We devise arguments that clearly and precisely define our points and yet we are looked upon as crazy people, as if we are speaking in parables and tongues. The Truth is we are and as the song says, “that’s just the way it is, some things will never change.” We only understand the Truth because the Holy Spirit allows us to understand and the world does not have the Holy Spirit empowering them with the same privilege.

But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you. John 14:26

The Holy Spirit is greater in us than anything that is in this world. And even though we cannot be understood by the world, we sow the Seed of the Word of our Father to the world. The Holy Spirit causes us to, we cannot help but to do the work of our Father. Some of the Truth that we are used to sow will fall on the rocks, some on shallow soil, and some in the thorn bushes. But amen, some will fall on good soil and produce a return of 30, 60, and a 100 fold. We can’t help but sow the Truth and we cannot help but be misunderstood as we do. So rejoice and sow the Truth and when your are rebuked and mistreated for it, rejoice that you were counted worthy by our Father to suffer persecution in doing so. The world may not understand the Truth now, but one day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess the Truth that Jesus is Lord. 

When Does The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb Begin?

And he gripped and overpowered the dragon, that old serpent [of primeval times], who is the devil and Satan, and [securely] bound him for a thousand years. Then he hurled him into the Abyss (the bottomless pit) and closed it and sealed it above him, so that he should no longer lead astray and deceive and seduce the nations until the thousand years were at an end. After that he must be liberated for a short time. Then I saw thrones, and sitting on them were those to whom authority to act as judges and to pass sentence was entrusted. Also I saw the souls of those who had been slain with axes [beheaded] for their witnessing to Jesus and [for preaching and testifying] for the Word of God, and who had refused to pay homage to the beast or his statue and had not accepted his mark or permitted it to be stamped on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived again and ruled with Christ (the Messiah) a thousand years. Revelation 20:2-4

Let us rejoice and shout for joy [exulting and triumphant]! Let us celebrate and ascribe to Him glory and honor, for the marriage of the Lamb [at last] has come, and His bride has prepared herself. She has been permitted to dress in fine (radiant) linen, dazzling and white--for the fine linen is (signifies, represents) the righteousness (the upright, just, and godly living, deeds, and conduct, and right standing with God) of the saints (God's holy people). Then [the angel] said to me, Write this down: Blessed (happy, to be envied) are those who are summoned (invited, called) to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me [further], These are the true words (the genuine and exact declarations) of God. Revelation 19:7-9

Jesus tells us that the Marriage Supper of the Lamb does not occur until satan is bound and imprisoned in the Abyss. The theory of a pre-tribulation rapture teaches us that the Marriage Supper begins seven years before this, when we are told that the saints are raptured off of the earth. However, we are told repeatedly in scriptures that the dead in Christ are not raised until the last day, John 6. We are shown that the dead in Christ are not raised until the last trumpet sounds, 1 Corinthians 15:52. We are told that the living in Christ can in no way precede the dead in Christ, 1 Thessalonians 4:15 and here in Revelation we are shown that the Marriage Supper does not begin until satan is bound and cast into prison on the last day.

Do not fear the Great Tribulation. If you are truly chosen and called by our Father to be here during these 3 1/2 years, you will be used as no other generation has been used to do the works that Jesus did and even greater works. In times of great persecutions, comes times of great demonstration of the Holy Spirit.